It's Wednesday...or should I say, it's ONLY Wednesday...
This week is REALLY taking it's time to reach the weekend, huh?
I am so looking forward to Raya.
But, before that I still have today and tomorrow at work before I can really start enjoying the break. I have 5 hours of tutorial classes tomorrow - the first one starting at 9:00a.m, while the last class will only end at 5:00p.m. I know that many of the students would have already gone back to their kampung by tomorrow afternoon, and I'm contemplating whether I should just cancel all the classes and reschedule all replacement classes after the break. Hmmmm...I might just do that. After all, I was a student once and I know that those who will be in class tomorrow will not be able to concentrate and give 100%, anyway :)
My leave starts on Friday, and I plan to go for serious retail therapy with the kids. We have not been doing any shopping over the last month because of Ramadhan and H1N1. We did most of our raya shopping before puasa, but, I still need to find kasut raya for Hilman, and I'm thinking of getting the girls new earrings/earstuds for Raya. Hasya had just pierced her ears 3 weeks ago (for the THIRD time), and she needs to get a gold set as she's allergic to non-gold studs (that was the cause as to why the last two attempts at piercing and wearing earrings failed). (Sambil-sambil tu, if mood Ayah baik, I boleh gak get a piece of bling-bling for myself, too, kan? Hehehe!)
And oh ya...I have yet to collect our Baju Raya from Kh*ti*ah at Pasar Taman Tun, and also Ayah's and Hilman's Baju Melayu from Om*r Al*. The girls have 4 Baju Kurung each, while Hilman has 3 Baju Melayu. On top of that we've also bought a few new tops and jeans/pants for them. Ayah has 2 new Baju Melayu, while I have 3 myself. Gila sakan nak raya...Hahaha! And of course, after collecting my Baju Raya, I will then have to go and find matching tudungs, too. Wajib. Mesti:)
We've already got new notes for Duit Raya, and also the Raya Packets. Two bundles of last year's RM5 notes still tak berusik, so we only tukar some RM10 and RM50 this year. Not a lot - just for the kids and immediate nephews and nieces.
I've also sent some money back to Indonesia for Bibik Dar, and hopefully her family will have a good raya this year, insya Allah.
Hilman needs a haircut, too. Badly. And I'm thinking of getting one myself, and if I feel like it, I might also get some henna done. My white hair is fast becoming more prominent than my black ones. Yikes!
I also need to sort out the girls jewelries. I've forgotten where exactly I've kept them. Whether at my MIL's or in one of my drawers at home. They only wear the jewelries once a year - during Aidilfitri. Tu yang sometimes boleh terlupa where I've kept them.
Hmmmmm....macam tak cukup masa ajer to settle everything by Saturday...
Raya this year seperti juga Raya-raya sebelumnya.
Last berbuka, insya Allah I will berbuka with my parents in KD, while Ayah will berbuka with my MIL in PJ, and the kids can choose where they want to berbuka. I will be busy helping my Mom kemas-kemaskan rumah, etc., and will only go back to my MIL's late at night. We will all sleep in PJ, and spend first raya morning with my MIL and Ayah's siblings, and late afternoon baru beraya at my parents and be with my siblings pulak, and we'll stay there until late at night. We normally would go back and sleep in SD, and the second raya will depend on what my parents and my MIL plan(s) to do, and we'll schedule everything to cater for both sides, insya Allah.
Menu for first day Raya, normally my Mom will cook Mee Rebus and Laksa Penang, on top of all the ketupat rendang. While my MIL will cook her Lontong and Macaroni Goreng. Also on top of the usual ketupat rendang. Meaning - by the second Raya I will have gained back all the kilos I shed over Ramadhan... :( Tsk...tsk...tsk...
Well, that's what Raya is all about, kan? ;)
I'd like to take this opportunity to wish all of you -
SELAMAT HARI RAYA AND MAAF ZAHIR BATIN.
Sekiranya ada terkasar bahasa and tersalah kata, jari sepuluh saya susunkan, memohon ampun maaf.
Drive safely, and enjoy your Raya break with your loved ones.
And don't forget to come back!!! :)
Take care, you all :)
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
9/11 revisited...
9/11/2001 - the day the world stood still when the unthinkable and the unexpected happened.
The day which changed the whole landscape of international relations and security as we suddenly realized that we were faced with non-traditional threats, and we didn't really understand the whole situation, and we didn't really know as to the next course of action.
The whole world was shocked and everybody still remembers vividly the image of the planes crashing into the World Trade Centre, and how it crumbled in front of our eyes...
I will always remember that day. Not just because of its significance to international relations, nor because of those vivid images etched in my head, but, because we as a family were also affected by the whole thing at a personal level.
We were in London when it happened. We had just arrived two days before that, with plans to spend a short break in London, while Ayah was to attend a cardio conference in Washington D.C. We had travelled to London together - both of us, and the kids, accompanied by my MIL and SIL. Hanna was just 6 years old then, while Hasya 2 1/2, and Hilman had just celebrated his 1st birthday a day before that.
The plan was for us to spend 2 days together in London, before Ayah was to fly to and stay in Washington for 3 days, and he would then join us again in London for the last 5 days before we were to fly back to KL together.
On that fateful day, we bade Ayah farewell before he left our London apartment early in the morning to catch the tube to the airport. Never did we think that that would be the start of one the most anxious times in our lives.
Ayah was supposed to get on the 9:15a.m Vi*gi* At*an*ic flight which would have taken him straight to Washington. He called just before boarding the plane just to say that he was fine and the flight was on schedule. And that was that. And he said he would call me once he reached the hotel in Washington.
I was busy preparing breakfast in the kitchen later that morning, when images shown on TV of this building into which a plane had crashed, caught my eyes, and I remember running to the adjoining living room to turn the volume on to find out what exactly had happened. I called out to my MIL and both of us just sat there watching the image being repeated over and over again over BBC1 and we were trying to gather what was that all about. Not much was disclosed at that point in time, and we were glued in front of the telly watching the live coverage of the tragedy.
Imagine our shock when just as we were thinking that it was just an unfortunate plane crash, we saw the second plane crashing into the second tower while we were watching the coverage! And right then, we knew that something was terribly not right...
In the middle of the chaotic reporting and total disbelief amongst the media reports, we saw the flashes across the TV screen stating that it was a terrorist attack on the USA, and that all airspace and all airports would be closed, and all flights into and out of the USA would be diverted elsewhere and all lines of communication were also blocked until further notice.
I remember feeling very faint, and finding it difficult to breath for a good 15 seconds after reading the news flash, as my mind was immediately thinking about Ayah who had left the UK just over two hours before that! He was already somewhere above the Atlantic Ocean on the way to Washington, and he would be amongst the hundreds of thousands of flight passengers to be re-routed to numeorus airports all over the region.
I began dialling the numbers for Vi*gi* At*an*ic to find out where Ayah's flight was to be re-routed to, and all I got were engaged tones and computer-generated voicemails asking me to hold on or try again later. And THOSE were the only things I got from the airline company for the next 2 days...
Imagine my state of mind at that time - not knowing whether Ayah was okay, or where he was at that time - or whether there were more attacks being attempted or planned on more flights...And I had 3 small kids with me who were oblivious to what was happening, and I was trying my best to not show my anxieties to them. And I was also with a mother who was worried sick about his second son. My MIL was on her sajjadah almost throughout the entire waiting period...
It was only on the second day when we managed to call the airline and we were told that Ayah's flight had been diverted to a small town in Newfoundland, by the name of Gander, and they were waiting for clearance from the US authorities before deciding on whether to continue their flight to Washington, or fly back to the UK. And over the next 2-3 days, they kept changing their flight plans and schedule, and I was already feeling the strain of being in the dark and being treated like a yo-yo. One minute they would say that his flight was scheduled to fly back to the UK on that particular day and the next minute they would inform that the flight had been delayed, or had been given clearance only to fly to Washington, and the next minute they would tell me another thing. I was on the worst roller-coaster ride of my life... And all those times, there was no communication whatsoever between me and Ayah...
It was also on the second day that I received a phone-call from my biras who was in KL at that time to inform us that Ayah finally managed to e-mail him and he had asked him to assure us that he was fine, and there was no need to worry about him. E-mails were the only mode of communication available to Ayah then, and I, on the other hand, had no ready access to the internet at that time.
"NOT TO WORRY"??!!
THAT was like asking us to continue having our dinner calmly in the middle of a hurricane, I tell you.
Anyway, I was so relieved to get a little news as to his well-being, and for the next couple of days (i.e. 4 days after he left London) my biras who was keeping in touch with Ayah via e-mails, would be the one who would update us on how Ayah was doing in Gander. At least we knew that he was safe.
And after waiting for 3 days, Ayah finally managed to call us from Gander. And the moment I heard his voice, the strain just gave in and I broke down and cried like nobody's business...Unashamedly in front of my MIL. In front of the kids. It was more of uncontrolable sobs, I think.
I could somewhat sense the strain in his voice, too. He was the one who had been stranded in a middle of nowhere, with strangers, makan tidur tak terurus for days...But, he sounded calm and cheerful. I guess he was trying not to make his mom and his wife overly worry about him...
The days after finally being able to hear his voice were much easier to face, and Ayah managed to call a few times after that to update us on his flight plan. Even then we were disappointed after initial plans for him to fly back straight to the UK were postponed and later cancelled. Several times. Within one day.
Finally, after nearly 5 days of being stranded in Gander, Ayah's flight continued its journey to Washington, and from there, he took the next flight back which took him straight to London.
And never had I felt so happy to see my haggard-looking, unshaven, sunken-eyed hubby's face as I did that day when he arrived in front of the door of our London apartment that Sunday.
THOSE were the longest 5 days of my life. And I pray that I would never ever have to go through that again...
And everytime 9/11 comes, I would be reminded as to how lucky Ayah was, and how fortunate we had been. Even though we were amongst the hundreds of thousands of people directly/indirectly affected by the tragedy, and had gone through hell during those nerve-racking times, there were those who had perished, and their loved ones would never see them again...
May they rest in peace...Amin.
The day which changed the whole landscape of international relations and security as we suddenly realized that we were faced with non-traditional threats, and we didn't really understand the whole situation, and we didn't really know as to the next course of action.
The whole world was shocked and everybody still remembers vividly the image of the planes crashing into the World Trade Centre, and how it crumbled in front of our eyes...
I will always remember that day. Not just because of its significance to international relations, nor because of those vivid images etched in my head, but, because we as a family were also affected by the whole thing at a personal level.
We were in London when it happened. We had just arrived two days before that, with plans to spend a short break in London, while Ayah was to attend a cardio conference in Washington D.C. We had travelled to London together - both of us, and the kids, accompanied by my MIL and SIL. Hanna was just 6 years old then, while Hasya 2 1/2, and Hilman had just celebrated his 1st birthday a day before that.
The plan was for us to spend 2 days together in London, before Ayah was to fly to and stay in Washington for 3 days, and he would then join us again in London for the last 5 days before we were to fly back to KL together.
On that fateful day, we bade Ayah farewell before he left our London apartment early in the morning to catch the tube to the airport. Never did we think that that would be the start of one the most anxious times in our lives.
Ayah was supposed to get on the 9:15a.m Vi*gi* At*an*ic flight which would have taken him straight to Washington. He called just before boarding the plane just to say that he was fine and the flight was on schedule. And that was that. And he said he would call me once he reached the hotel in Washington.
I was busy preparing breakfast in the kitchen later that morning, when images shown on TV of this building into which a plane had crashed, caught my eyes, and I remember running to the adjoining living room to turn the volume on to find out what exactly had happened. I called out to my MIL and both of us just sat there watching the image being repeated over and over again over BBC1 and we were trying to gather what was that all about. Not much was disclosed at that point in time, and we were glued in front of the telly watching the live coverage of the tragedy.
Imagine our shock when just as we were thinking that it was just an unfortunate plane crash, we saw the second plane crashing into the second tower while we were watching the coverage! And right then, we knew that something was terribly not right...
In the middle of the chaotic reporting and total disbelief amongst the media reports, we saw the flashes across the TV screen stating that it was a terrorist attack on the USA, and that all airspace and all airports would be closed, and all flights into and out of the USA would be diverted elsewhere and all lines of communication were also blocked until further notice.
I remember feeling very faint, and finding it difficult to breath for a good 15 seconds after reading the news flash, as my mind was immediately thinking about Ayah who had left the UK just over two hours before that! He was already somewhere above the Atlantic Ocean on the way to Washington, and he would be amongst the hundreds of thousands of flight passengers to be re-routed to numeorus airports all over the region.
I began dialling the numbers for Vi*gi* At*an*ic to find out where Ayah's flight was to be re-routed to, and all I got were engaged tones and computer-generated voicemails asking me to hold on or try again later. And THOSE were the only things I got from the airline company for the next 2 days...
Imagine my state of mind at that time - not knowing whether Ayah was okay, or where he was at that time - or whether there were more attacks being attempted or planned on more flights...And I had 3 small kids with me who were oblivious to what was happening, and I was trying my best to not show my anxieties to them. And I was also with a mother who was worried sick about his second son. My MIL was on her sajjadah almost throughout the entire waiting period...
It was only on the second day when we managed to call the airline and we were told that Ayah's flight had been diverted to a small town in Newfoundland, by the name of Gander, and they were waiting for clearance from the US authorities before deciding on whether to continue their flight to Washington, or fly back to the UK. And over the next 2-3 days, they kept changing their flight plans and schedule, and I was already feeling the strain of being in the dark and being treated like a yo-yo. One minute they would say that his flight was scheduled to fly back to the UK on that particular day and the next minute they would inform that the flight had been delayed, or had been given clearance only to fly to Washington, and the next minute they would tell me another thing. I was on the worst roller-coaster ride of my life... And all those times, there was no communication whatsoever between me and Ayah...
It was also on the second day that I received a phone-call from my biras who was in KL at that time to inform us that Ayah finally managed to e-mail him and he had asked him to assure us that he was fine, and there was no need to worry about him. E-mails were the only mode of communication available to Ayah then, and I, on the other hand, had no ready access to the internet at that time.
"NOT TO WORRY"??!!
THAT was like asking us to continue having our dinner calmly in the middle of a hurricane, I tell you.
Anyway, I was so relieved to get a little news as to his well-being, and for the next couple of days (i.e. 4 days after he left London) my biras who was keeping in touch with Ayah via e-mails, would be the one who would update us on how Ayah was doing in Gander. At least we knew that he was safe.
And after waiting for 3 days, Ayah finally managed to call us from Gander. And the moment I heard his voice, the strain just gave in and I broke down and cried like nobody's business...Unashamedly in front of my MIL. In front of the kids. It was more of uncontrolable sobs, I think.
I could somewhat sense the strain in his voice, too. He was the one who had been stranded in a middle of nowhere, with strangers, makan tidur tak terurus for days...But, he sounded calm and cheerful. I guess he was trying not to make his mom and his wife overly worry about him...
The days after finally being able to hear his voice were much easier to face, and Ayah managed to call a few times after that to update us on his flight plan. Even then we were disappointed after initial plans for him to fly back straight to the UK were postponed and later cancelled. Several times. Within one day.
Finally, after nearly 5 days of being stranded in Gander, Ayah's flight continued its journey to Washington, and from there, he took the next flight back which took him straight to London.
And never had I felt so happy to see my haggard-looking, unshaven, sunken-eyed hubby's face as I did that day when he arrived in front of the door of our London apartment that Sunday.
THOSE were the longest 5 days of my life. And I pray that I would never ever have to go through that again...
And everytime 9/11 comes, I would be reminded as to how lucky Ayah was, and how fortunate we had been. Even though we were amongst the hundreds of thousands of people directly/indirectly affected by the tragedy, and had gone through hell during those nerve-racking times, there were those who had perished, and their loved ones would never see them again...
May they rest in peace...Amin.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Happy Anniversary, my darling :)
As I felt your warmth against me, and all emotions that it brings - the sense of belonging, peace, calmness, and assurance your love has brought to my life for the past 15 years, I pray for this to last...and I wish you all my love and much, much more, forever and a day.
Thank you for being there for me all these years, and making me complete...
Happy Anniversary, sayang.
I love you.
So. Very. Much...
Thank you for being there for me all these years, and making me complete...
Happy Anniversary, sayang.
I love you.
So. Very. Much...
Monday, September 7, 2009
Our puasa so far...
Salams and Hi, you all.
I know, I know... This blog of mine has been ignored for the longest time. My apologies.
Even though I have been quiet on the blogging front, I've been quite active FB-ing. And those who are my FB friends have been getting updates on what the family and I have been up to for the last 3 weeks or so, which has been makan, makan, dan makan lagi...(Errrr, during berbuka, okay? ;))
Ramadhan has been smooth-sailing so far, syukur alhamdulillah. Hanna, Hasya and Hilman all have performed their Puasa dilligently, without any complaints at all. It helped that the first week of Ramadhan was during their school holiday, and the weather has been kind to us.
Sahur, too, has not been a war zone so far. Bibik Dar is indeed a blessing. She would prepare everything and wake all of us up at 5:00a.m for Sahur without fail. And surprisingly, we have not had much trouble waking the kids up. Even Hilman :) Every Sahur has been a simple affair so far. We only had rice once. Corned Beef Fried Rice, to be exact, courtesy of Meen's recipe.
The rest of our sahur have been either Toasted Sandwiches (Egg or Tuna), Half-boiled Eggs with Toasts, Campbell Soups (Chicken or Mushroom) with Bread, or Cereals. And of course, whatever kueh-mueh left from berbuka the night before. And I would make sure the whole family take their MultiVitamins, Scott's Emulsion, and Vitamin C every Sahur.
As for Berbuka, I think we've only broken fast at our home in SD maybe 3-4 times? The rest, we either berbuka at my MIL's, my parents', or outside - either at friends' place, or Hotels/Restaurants - the latter, mostly sponsored. I loike :)! Syukur Alhamdulillah. Oh ya, once Ayah's Heart Centre at TMC organized a Berbuka for his staff, catered by the hospital's F&B Department. Not bad at all (considering that they normally cook hospital food for their patients :))
Here are some reviews of the places we've been to -
Puteri Restaurant (Taman Tun) was so-so. I think I must have had quite high expectations after all the raves I heard about this place. I was a bit disappointed with the spread. I was hoping for more varieties and not just Traditional Malay dish. I know, I know... that's what they're famous for anyway, right?
Sari Ratu (Kota Damansara) was awesome. Puas makan :) We had Gulai Otak Sapi, Gulai Tunjang, Gulai Ayam, Gulai Pucuk Ubi, Gulai Nangka, Tenggiri Balado, Terung Balado, and of course their Sambal Ijo. Yummeh! Oh yes! Not forgetting their Chendol Durian! Terangkat I tell you :) Tapi, tak boleh makan selalu kat situ. Cholesterol-laden food, meh... :)
One World - they had an amazing spread. Memang tabik spring. But, the taste was a bit bland (at least to me, that is).
Le Meridien - I only tried the Chinese and Japanese spread. Very nice. I like :) They also have a Middle-Eastern and Indian Corner, and a Noodle Booth which looked good, but, I can't really comment as I didn't have any of those. Oh ya...their Burnt Coconut Drink was simply divine...
If we berbuka at home or in PJ or in KD, the wajib Bazaar Ramadhan dish would include Roti John, Otak-Otak, and Air Tebu. We normally go to the ones in Section 17 PJ (near my MIL's), Kota Damansara (near Ayah's hospital and my parents') and of course in SD itself.
There's one stall in Section 17 Bazaar which sells all sorts of kueh-mueh which I like. Their kuehs are tasty, and nicely made (comel) and clean. They sell very nice Kueh Kochi and another kueh which I don't know the name (made with tepung pulut and salut with gula - macam gula Kueh Keria?).
In Kota Damansara - there's one stall which sells Hot Soy Bean Milk which is a hit with the kids.
In Sri Damansara - one stall sells quite nice Otak-Otak. (Come to think of it, all the Otak-Otaks which we bought from these three Bazaars taste the same! From the same Johore supplier, maybe?)
Even though Taman Tun and Section 14 are within the radius of our lalu-lalang route, we have yet to go to the Bazaars there. Parking is madness, I tell you. And the jam... Gosh, pening kepala! I'd rather not stress myself by going there :)Some people sanggup queue for more than half an hour for the Popiah Basah in Section 14! Errrr, sorry no thank you...
For this week, we have two berbuka outside lined-up. Tomorrow will be at Baiti's in Taman Tun, and Wednesday night after the kids' piano class which ends at 7:45p.m, Ayah MIGHT bring me/us out for berbuka. This Wednesday 9th September 2009 will be our 15th Wedding Anniversary, by the way :)
And next Monday will be another sponsored berbuka for us. Venue yet to be announced :)
Will update you all on that, insya Allah ;)
Till then, I make do'a for the second half of this Ramadhan to bring more blessings to us, insya Allah.
Selamat beramal-ibadah :)
Oh by the way, as of 6:35a.m this morning, I've lost 2kgs this Ramadhan. A miracle - considering the food I've been indulging myself with all this while :)
* I will try to create a link to photos already uploaded on FB for your viewing and drooling pleasure soon... ;)
UPDATE - Okay, here are the links! Happy Drooling... ;)
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2309711&l=c8bb864271&id=733039296
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=101220&id=733039296&l=2138e37fbb
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=100291&id=733039296&l=e6a6346e55
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=99678&id=733039296&l=d709f8fbe4
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=99451&id=733039296&l=2e28416f09
:)
I know, I know... This blog of mine has been ignored for the longest time. My apologies.
Even though I have been quiet on the blogging front, I've been quite active FB-ing. And those who are my FB friends have been getting updates on what the family and I have been up to for the last 3 weeks or so, which has been makan, makan, dan makan lagi...(Errrr, during berbuka, okay? ;))
Ramadhan has been smooth-sailing so far, syukur alhamdulillah. Hanna, Hasya and Hilman all have performed their Puasa dilligently, without any complaints at all. It helped that the first week of Ramadhan was during their school holiday, and the weather has been kind to us.
Sahur, too, has not been a war zone so far. Bibik Dar is indeed a blessing. She would prepare everything and wake all of us up at 5:00a.m for Sahur without fail. And surprisingly, we have not had much trouble waking the kids up. Even Hilman :) Every Sahur has been a simple affair so far. We only had rice once. Corned Beef Fried Rice, to be exact, courtesy of Meen's recipe.
The rest of our sahur have been either Toasted Sandwiches (Egg or Tuna), Half-boiled Eggs with Toasts, Campbell Soups (Chicken or Mushroom) with Bread, or Cereals. And of course, whatever kueh-mueh left from berbuka the night before. And I would make sure the whole family take their MultiVitamins, Scott's Emulsion, and Vitamin C every Sahur.
As for Berbuka, I think we've only broken fast at our home in SD maybe 3-4 times? The rest, we either berbuka at my MIL's, my parents', or outside - either at friends' place, or Hotels/Restaurants - the latter, mostly sponsored. I loike :)! Syukur Alhamdulillah. Oh ya, once Ayah's Heart Centre at TMC organized a Berbuka for his staff, catered by the hospital's F&B Department. Not bad at all (considering that they normally cook hospital food for their patients :))
Here are some reviews of the places we've been to -
Puteri Restaurant (Taman Tun) was so-so. I think I must have had quite high expectations after all the raves I heard about this place. I was a bit disappointed with the spread. I was hoping for more varieties and not just Traditional Malay dish. I know, I know... that's what they're famous for anyway, right?
Sari Ratu (Kota Damansara) was awesome. Puas makan :) We had Gulai Otak Sapi, Gulai Tunjang, Gulai Ayam, Gulai Pucuk Ubi, Gulai Nangka, Tenggiri Balado, Terung Balado, and of course their Sambal Ijo. Yummeh! Oh yes! Not forgetting their Chendol Durian! Terangkat I tell you :) Tapi, tak boleh makan selalu kat situ. Cholesterol-laden food, meh... :)
One World - they had an amazing spread. Memang tabik spring. But, the taste was a bit bland (at least to me, that is).
Le Meridien - I only tried the Chinese and Japanese spread. Very nice. I like :) They also have a Middle-Eastern and Indian Corner, and a Noodle Booth which looked good, but, I can't really comment as I didn't have any of those. Oh ya...their Burnt Coconut Drink was simply divine...
If we berbuka at home or in PJ or in KD, the wajib Bazaar Ramadhan dish would include Roti John, Otak-Otak, and Air Tebu. We normally go to the ones in Section 17 PJ (near my MIL's), Kota Damansara (near Ayah's hospital and my parents') and of course in SD itself.
There's one stall in Section 17 Bazaar which sells all sorts of kueh-mueh which I like. Their kuehs are tasty, and nicely made (comel) and clean. They sell very nice Kueh Kochi and another kueh which I don't know the name (made with tepung pulut and salut with gula - macam gula Kueh Keria?).
In Kota Damansara - there's one stall which sells Hot Soy Bean Milk which is a hit with the kids.
In Sri Damansara - one stall sells quite nice Otak-Otak. (Come to think of it, all the Otak-Otaks which we bought from these three Bazaars taste the same! From the same Johore supplier, maybe?)
Even though Taman Tun and Section 14 are within the radius of our lalu-lalang route, we have yet to go to the Bazaars there. Parking is madness, I tell you. And the jam... Gosh, pening kepala! I'd rather not stress myself by going there :)Some people sanggup queue for more than half an hour for the Popiah Basah in Section 14! Errrr, sorry no thank you...
For this week, we have two berbuka outside lined-up. Tomorrow will be at Baiti's in Taman Tun, and Wednesday night after the kids' piano class which ends at 7:45p.m, Ayah MIGHT bring me/us out for berbuka. This Wednesday 9th September 2009 will be our 15th Wedding Anniversary, by the way :)
And next Monday will be another sponsored berbuka for us. Venue yet to be announced :)
Will update you all on that, insya Allah ;)
Till then, I make do'a for the second half of this Ramadhan to bring more blessings to us, insya Allah.
Selamat beramal-ibadah :)
Oh by the way, as of 6:35a.m this morning, I've lost 2kgs this Ramadhan. A miracle - considering the food I've been indulging myself with all this while :)
* I will try to create a link to photos already uploaded on FB for your viewing and drooling pleasure soon... ;)
UPDATE - Okay, here are the links! Happy Drooling... ;)
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2309711&l=c8bb864271&id=733039296
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=101220&id=733039296&l=2138e37fbb
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=100291&id=733039296&l=e6a6346e55
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=99678&id=733039296&l=d709f8fbe4
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=99451&id=733039296&l=2e28416f09
:)
Friday, August 21, 2009
Being married to Doktor Ayah...
Somebody made a comment on my FB a couple of days ago as to how patient I have been. As a wife.
Oh, boy... She couldn't be more wrong than that. Hehehe! I'm afraid I have to disappoint her, because I AM SO NOT A PATIENT WIFE, OKAY?
Well, maybe now it's a bit better. But before, when we first got married, "patience" was not in my vocabulary. But, after a while I got used to being a doctor's wife and the whole jim-bangs that come with it. And I realized, one of the things that had made it easier to accept life as a doctor's wife actually was seeing OUR KIDS accepting THEIR lives as children with a doctor as their father in the last few years. Yup, that was how long it took me to FINALLY stop whining. But, of course, sometimes ada jugak whine here and there now. I'm no saint, okay? I'm a normal human being.
I can safely say here that the causes of about 99% of our arguments or "Cold Wars", when we had any, that is, had been due to Ayah's work. I say "Cold Wars" here because when I'm angry or merajuk, I turn VERY quiet!) That means, I had been the one who would trigger the "Cold War" button most of the times. So, I guess that would definitely mean that I WAS NOT A PATIENT WIFE when it came to his work as a doctor.
It's bad enough for a doctor who works with Kementerian Kesihatan. Try being a doctor at a teaching hospital, under Kementerian Pendidikan. Ayah was not just busy with the normal tasks of a doctor of attending to his patients at the clinic and the wards, doing invasive procedures, etc., but, he also had to teach medical students (giving lectures AND carrying out clinical teachings), get involved in research, present papers, publish papers, go to conferences all over the world, go for postings at some sub-urb hospitals every now and then, and of course he also had to deal with admin work, as well. And he also had to layan his whiny wife, at the same time.
Some of the things that used to rile me up once upon time, but, we, as a family had experienced and have learnt to accept, were the following. This was always the case when Ayah was with UM*C dulu. It's not that bad now, but, certain times of the month, monchong jugak lah I...
Try to be in my shoes, and imagine how YOU would feel in the following situations -
(1) When we had made plans to go somewhere, be it khenduri, shopping, dinner, outing, etc., you name it, and at the last minute we had to postpone, or worse - cancel the whole thing when Ayah was called to the hospital to attend to emergency cases.
(2) When we were already out, and Ayah was called to the hospital. We either had to be sent home first, or wait at wherever he left us, and we had to wait for Ayah to finish his work at the hospital before he came back to fetch us.
(3) Sometimes, he would bring ALL of us to the hospital while he reviewed his patients. We would either wait in the car, or in his office or at the lounge, or at any of the eating joints at the hospital. Sometimes sekejap ajer. Sometimes berjam-jam lamanya...
(4) The endless phonecalls he got from, and he made to the hospital when we were having our family outing. Tension betul...Couldn't they just leave him alone and let him have his weekend?!
(5) He said he would be back by 9:00p.m and he reached home at 11:00p.m (or worse, and for most of the times, even later than that).
(6) Ayah NEVER came back before 9:00p.m. If he came home earlier than that, it was a bonus for us, and good for him. Even until now. And they say him doing private would allow him to have more time with the family... Duh... But, Insya Allah, soon I hope :)
(7) Many times, we would wait for him to have a family dinner, and I would cook some special dish only to be disappointed, and I would ask the kids to go ahead and eat without him because Ayah was caught up at the hospital. I would still wait for him, but, of course bila perut dah berkeroncong, sorry dear...I also had to eat first!
(8) In the middle of the night, the hospital would call, and he would ask his staff to fax whatever test results (ECG readings bagai) to him, and then he would have to leave and attend to his patients at the hospital, only to come back to catch up on his sleep for 15-30 minutes, only to have to wake up and go to work again.
(9) Whenever any of our kids fell sick, Ayah would be so nonchalant about it (when I would be worried sick macam nak gila), and the only thing he would say would be, "Just give them some panadol, and see how he/she is tomorrow..." I guess I can't blame him. He has seen worse cases at the hospital. But, aaaaaarrggghhh!!!
(10) Sometimes, we couldn't really plan for the weekend because Ayah was on-call and he couldn't really promise that it wouldn't be busy at the hospital, could he? Syukur alhamdulilah, the kids understood this, and they didn't complain if we couldn't do the things that they wanted to do for the weekend. Bless them.
(11) And, of course - being late for events or functions...countless times, I tell you, because Ayah had to attend to his patients first.
(12) And I can't remember when was the last time he DIDN'T go to the hospital to see his patients during weekends. Saturday AND Sunday. But, one thing about Ayah - he knows how I treasure time with the family masa weekend, so, normally he would make a point to go to the hospital early in the morning, when the kids and I belum bangun lagi, and he would be back by 10 or 11 a.m when we are all ready for whatever impromptu plans we make.
(13) And when he was involved as the principal investigator in drug trials/research, he would be on the phone continuously with the reps from the drug companies to update them on every single development of the research in real time, even in the wee hours of the morning when he had to do emergency procedures which he had to report there and then. Memang sakit jiwer I...MAJOR sakit jiwer, I tell you...
And I would be lying if I said that I never had doubts on whether he was really working during those long hours. Jahatnya I, kan?! But, as a wife, of course we would be worried about all that, kan? Hati perempuan...when we feel we're being neglected, we automatically will think that our husbands have some distractions elsewhere. Normal lah kan? Tu yang kekadang tu "Cold War" tu...but, after a while I stopped melayan all those doubts. Tidak bagus untuk kesihatan mental :) Hehehe!
And it goes without saying lah kan, mulut I dulu memang selalu monchong 4 batu when all these happened. But, syukur alhamdulillah, the monchong is now reduced to 1 batu ajer... Still working on how to not monchong at all...Getting there, getting there...insya Allah :)
When the kids were smaller, I found it hard to understand the nature of his work because I felt so overwhelmed with everything - work, house chores, kids and he was rarely at home. Selalu rasa lonely and frustrated coz' tak leh nak mencurah perasaan when I needed somebody to talk to. I never could understand why it was always the patients first, and the family second.
But, now I do, especially when the kids are older and independent and they themselves have accepted their life as it is. It's much easier, especially when I have them around to layan perasaan I. Hehehe!
So there - bukti-bukti bahawa I WAS NOT A PATIENT DOCTOR'S WIFE, and still NOT 100% patient yet now :)
But, insya Allah I will try my best to improve and be more patient from now on. I'm working on it. And, my do'a that Allah SWT will tingkatkan tahap kesabaran I to be a better wife, insya Allah. Amin.
Oh, boy... She couldn't be more wrong than that. Hehehe! I'm afraid I have to disappoint her, because I AM SO NOT A PATIENT WIFE, OKAY?
Well, maybe now it's a bit better. But before, when we first got married, "patience" was not in my vocabulary. But, after a while I got used to being a doctor's wife and the whole jim-bangs that come with it. And I realized, one of the things that had made it easier to accept life as a doctor's wife actually was seeing OUR KIDS accepting THEIR lives as children with a doctor as their father in the last few years. Yup, that was how long it took me to FINALLY stop whining. But, of course, sometimes ada jugak whine here and there now. I'm no saint, okay? I'm a normal human being.
I can safely say here that the causes of about 99% of our arguments or "Cold Wars", when we had any, that is, had been due to Ayah's work. I say "Cold Wars" here because when I'm angry or merajuk, I turn VERY quiet!) That means, I had been the one who would trigger the "Cold War" button most of the times. So, I guess that would definitely mean that I WAS NOT A PATIENT WIFE when it came to his work as a doctor.
It's bad enough for a doctor who works with Kementerian Kesihatan. Try being a doctor at a teaching hospital, under Kementerian Pendidikan. Ayah was not just busy with the normal tasks of a doctor of attending to his patients at the clinic and the wards, doing invasive procedures, etc., but, he also had to teach medical students (giving lectures AND carrying out clinical teachings), get involved in research, present papers, publish papers, go to conferences all over the world, go for postings at some sub-urb hospitals every now and then, and of course he also had to deal with admin work, as well. And he also had to layan his whiny wife, at the same time.
Some of the things that used to rile me up once upon time, but, we, as a family had experienced and have learnt to accept, were the following. This was always the case when Ayah was with UM*C dulu. It's not that bad now, but, certain times of the month, monchong jugak lah I...
Try to be in my shoes, and imagine how YOU would feel in the following situations -
(1) When we had made plans to go somewhere, be it khenduri, shopping, dinner, outing, etc., you name it, and at the last minute we had to postpone, or worse - cancel the whole thing when Ayah was called to the hospital to attend to emergency cases.
(2) When we were already out, and Ayah was called to the hospital. We either had to be sent home first, or wait at wherever he left us, and we had to wait for Ayah to finish his work at the hospital before he came back to fetch us.
(3) Sometimes, he would bring ALL of us to the hospital while he reviewed his patients. We would either wait in the car, or in his office or at the lounge, or at any of the eating joints at the hospital. Sometimes sekejap ajer. Sometimes berjam-jam lamanya...
(4) The endless phonecalls he got from, and he made to the hospital when we were having our family outing. Tension betul...Couldn't they just leave him alone and let him have his weekend?!
(5) He said he would be back by 9:00p.m and he reached home at 11:00p.m (or worse, and for most of the times, even later than that).
(6) Ayah NEVER came back before 9:00p.m. If he came home earlier than that, it was a bonus for us, and good for him. Even until now. And they say him doing private would allow him to have more time with the family... Duh... But, Insya Allah, soon I hope :)
(7) Many times, we would wait for him to have a family dinner, and I would cook some special dish only to be disappointed, and I would ask the kids to go ahead and eat without him because Ayah was caught up at the hospital. I would still wait for him, but, of course bila perut dah berkeroncong, sorry dear...I also had to eat first!
(8) In the middle of the night, the hospital would call, and he would ask his staff to fax whatever test results (ECG readings bagai) to him, and then he would have to leave and attend to his patients at the hospital, only to come back to catch up on his sleep for 15-30 minutes, only to have to wake up and go to work again.
(9) Whenever any of our kids fell sick, Ayah would be so nonchalant about it (when I would be worried sick macam nak gila), and the only thing he would say would be, "Just give them some panadol, and see how he/she is tomorrow..." I guess I can't blame him. He has seen worse cases at the hospital. But, aaaaaarrggghhh!!!
(10) Sometimes, we couldn't really plan for the weekend because Ayah was on-call and he couldn't really promise that it wouldn't be busy at the hospital, could he? Syukur alhamdulilah, the kids understood this, and they didn't complain if we couldn't do the things that they wanted to do for the weekend. Bless them.
(11) And, of course - being late for events or functions...countless times, I tell you, because Ayah had to attend to his patients first.
(12) And I can't remember when was the last time he DIDN'T go to the hospital to see his patients during weekends. Saturday AND Sunday. But, one thing about Ayah - he knows how I treasure time with the family masa weekend, so, normally he would make a point to go to the hospital early in the morning, when the kids and I belum bangun lagi, and he would be back by 10 or 11 a.m when we are all ready for whatever impromptu plans we make.
(13) And when he was involved as the principal investigator in drug trials/research, he would be on the phone continuously with the reps from the drug companies to update them on every single development of the research in real time, even in the wee hours of the morning when he had to do emergency procedures which he had to report there and then. Memang sakit jiwer I...MAJOR sakit jiwer, I tell you...
And I would be lying if I said that I never had doubts on whether he was really working during those long hours. Jahatnya I, kan?! But, as a wife, of course we would be worried about all that, kan? Hati perempuan...when we feel we're being neglected, we automatically will think that our husbands have some distractions elsewhere. Normal lah kan? Tu yang kekadang tu "Cold War" tu...but, after a while I stopped melayan all those doubts. Tidak bagus untuk kesihatan mental :) Hehehe!
And it goes without saying lah kan, mulut I dulu memang selalu monchong 4 batu when all these happened. But, syukur alhamdulillah, the monchong is now reduced to 1 batu ajer... Still working on how to not monchong at all...Getting there, getting there...insya Allah :)
When the kids were smaller, I found it hard to understand the nature of his work because I felt so overwhelmed with everything - work, house chores, kids and he was rarely at home. Selalu rasa lonely and frustrated coz' tak leh nak mencurah perasaan when I needed somebody to talk to. I never could understand why it was always the patients first, and the family second.
But, now I do, especially when the kids are older and independent and they themselves have accepted their life as it is. It's much easier, especially when I have them around to layan perasaan I. Hehehe!
So there - bukti-bukti bahawa I WAS NOT A PATIENT DOCTOR'S WIFE, and still NOT 100% patient yet now :)
But, insya Allah I will try my best to improve and be more patient from now on. I'm working on it. And, my do'a that Allah SWT will tingkatkan tahap kesabaran I to be a better wife, insya Allah. Amin.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
My dua sen on "When there's a third party in the equation"...
I was so flabbergasted when I read about the nikah between the two celebrities who all this while had maintained that their relationship was just a platonic one. Platonic my *&%$!
My heart goes out to his ex-wife. And his kids.
Fine, people may come to me and say we should not be judgmental against any of the parties because we don't really know what went on during their marriage, and that we don't really know who was at fault, and maybe, the marriage was already on the rocks when the third party came into the picture.
Fine. I don't really know these two celebrities personally, and I don't know his ex-wife. And I for sure didn't, and still don't know what went on in their marriage.
And fine. Ini soal jodoh.
So, I'm not going to throw accusations or be judgmental against these two celebrities. But, what I'm going to write is just how I feel about situations when there's a third party in a relationship.
And this is meant not just for the hubbies out there, but also the wifeys, okay? And also peringatan untuk diri I sendiri, and also for Ayah, insya Allah.
All marriages would have its ups and downs. We can't deny that. More often than not, a marriage would start being on the rocks WHEN there's a third party. But, if there's no third party in the picture, both husband and wife would, more often than not, try their utmost best to deal with the situation and resolve the crisis. This is especially so when there are kids involved. They would be more focused on addressing whatever issues which may have caused the rift between them because there's no third party to distract them from the effort. Nothing to distract the wife, nor the husband. So, both would, insya Allah, try their best to save the marriage. But, when there's a third party in the equation, the third party would more often than not, take that focus away. And the third party would always seem to be offering a better deal than your own spouse. More exciting. A novelty. Konon.
And the third party would always seem to be a good excuse for the husband or the wife to throw the towel in and call it quits, because he or she would be thinking, "Heck...If this marriage were to end, it's okay because I already have someone who's willing to start a new life with me and be my wife or husband. The divorce won't be that painful. And life would just continue as it is, albeit I'll be going through it with a different person". And because of that the sanctity of the marriage institution would just dissipate into thin air.
You selfish git. Yes, the divorce won't be painful for you, but what about your spouse who had been through thick and thin with you, and what about your kids?! *^%#$!
And I feel all of these could be avoided if both husband and wife are loyal and sincere and are open to each other. This is ESPECIALLY important when they know or they feel that there are girls or guys out there who are trying to hit on them. Jangan gatal nak layan or nak try to gauge how laku you are still in the market. This, I feel is the main reason why husbands and wives start to go astray. Sebab macam excited giler when somebody else (besides the wife or hubby) finds him/her attractive or desirable.
I believe that if you know or if you feel a girl or a guy is trying to make a move on you, you should tell it straight to his or her face that you're married. Tak payah selindung-selindung. You don't owe him/her anything. But, you do owe your spouse your loyalty.
BUT, MORE IMPORTANTLY, I BELIEVE YOU SHOULD SHARE THIS WITH YOUR SPOUSE. You should tell your spouse about the particular girl or guy, and you should always update your spouse on whatever attempts the guy or the girl is making to get you. Don't wait. And jangan nak syok sendiri and rasa thrilled macam beruk when somebody shows interests in you. Your love to your spouse mesti teguh. Dan yang lebih penting, Imaan kena teguh. You should share all these things with your spouse. MESTI. WAJIB.
Once your spouse is in the know about your pursuer, this will ensure that you stay anchored to the marriage. And trust me, your spouse who before that may take you for granted, will also start paying more attention to you because they then realize that they have a prized possession in you. They have a competition. And they don't want to lose, do they?
In sum -
(1) Jangan layan lebih-lebih mereka-mereka yang menggedik dan menggatal nak tackle you.
(2) Make it clear to them and SHOW them that you're VERY married. Flaunt your spouse in front of them.
(3) Make sure you tell your spouse about the third party who's trying to get you.
(4) UPDATE your spouse regularly on the pursuer's pursuits on you.
(5) Better still, introduce your spouse to the pursuer.
(6) And if your spouse is the one who's being pursued, make a point to get your spouse to bring you to see his/her pursuer. Sit down with him/her, and tell him/her straight to his/her face not to waste his/her time on your spouse.
I think this is VERY important because the pursuer normally would think that the spouse of his/her desired catch does not know about the whole thing and that's why they all makin daring to try whatever it may take to get that person. But, if he/she knows the spouse tahu about what he or she is trying to do, this may menyedarkan diri dia that it's a futile effort to carry on. Lu pikir la sendiri...
(7) DON'T be the third party.
(8) DON'T encourage the third party.
BUT, of course all of this will only work if BOTH husband and wife are loyal, sincere and open with each other from the start. It's important that you tell your spouse straight away when a third party is trying to tackle you. VERY IMPORTANT.
AND HEY, EVEN IF THE OTHER PARTY WANTS TO BE JUST CASUAL FRIENDS, YOU HAVE TO TELL YOUR OTHER HALF. VERY IMPORTANT, TOO!
You'll never know where this "casual friendship" may end up, kan? Tak kira bila and siapa, if a member of the opposite sex nak kawan dengan kita, even if they are sincere, you have to let your spouse know. Berdosa kalau tak bagitau. Kena mintak izin.
Again, all the above is also as peringatan for myself and Ayah, too. I pray and hope that all these dijauhkan. And I pray and hope that both Ayah and I will continue to be open with each other, insya Allah. Amin.
And last but, not least, I'm a strong believer of the notion, "What goes around, comes around".
If today kita menggedik and menggatal nak tackle laki or bini orang, one fine day, ada orang yang akan tackle laki and bini kita...Baru kita rasa...
If today kita menyakitkan and melukakan hati isteri atau suami kita by abandoning him or her to be with a new person, one fine day that new love will also do the same to us.
If today kita merampas hak orang, one fine day, hak kita juga akan dirampas.
If we hold on to that, insya Allah, we will not hurt others, and we will not be hurt by others. Amin.
Again, ini adalah untuk renungan bersama for all the husbands AND wives out there, ya...
My heart goes out to his ex-wife. And his kids.
Fine, people may come to me and say we should not be judgmental against any of the parties because we don't really know what went on during their marriage, and that we don't really know who was at fault, and maybe, the marriage was already on the rocks when the third party came into the picture.
Fine. I don't really know these two celebrities personally, and I don't know his ex-wife. And I for sure didn't, and still don't know what went on in their marriage.
And fine. Ini soal jodoh.
So, I'm not going to throw accusations or be judgmental against these two celebrities. But, what I'm going to write is just how I feel about situations when there's a third party in a relationship.
And this is meant not just for the hubbies out there, but also the wifeys, okay? And also peringatan untuk diri I sendiri, and also for Ayah, insya Allah.
All marriages would have its ups and downs. We can't deny that. More often than not, a marriage would start being on the rocks WHEN there's a third party. But, if there's no third party in the picture, both husband and wife would, more often than not, try their utmost best to deal with the situation and resolve the crisis. This is especially so when there are kids involved. They would be more focused on addressing whatever issues which may have caused the rift between them because there's no third party to distract them from the effort. Nothing to distract the wife, nor the husband. So, both would, insya Allah, try their best to save the marriage. But, when there's a third party in the equation, the third party would more often than not, take that focus away. And the third party would always seem to be offering a better deal than your own spouse. More exciting. A novelty. Konon.
And the third party would always seem to be a good excuse for the husband or the wife to throw the towel in and call it quits, because he or she would be thinking, "Heck...If this marriage were to end, it's okay because I already have someone who's willing to start a new life with me and be my wife or husband. The divorce won't be that painful. And life would just continue as it is, albeit I'll be going through it with a different person". And because of that the sanctity of the marriage institution would just dissipate into thin air.
You selfish git. Yes, the divorce won't be painful for you, but what about your spouse who had been through thick and thin with you, and what about your kids?! *^%#$!
And I feel all of these could be avoided if both husband and wife are loyal and sincere and are open to each other. This is ESPECIALLY important when they know or they feel that there are girls or guys out there who are trying to hit on them. Jangan gatal nak layan or nak try to gauge how laku you are still in the market. This, I feel is the main reason why husbands and wives start to go astray. Sebab macam excited giler when somebody else (besides the wife or hubby) finds him/her attractive or desirable.
I believe that if you know or if you feel a girl or a guy is trying to make a move on you, you should tell it straight to his or her face that you're married. Tak payah selindung-selindung. You don't owe him/her anything. But, you do owe your spouse your loyalty.
BUT, MORE IMPORTANTLY, I BELIEVE YOU SHOULD SHARE THIS WITH YOUR SPOUSE. You should tell your spouse about the particular girl or guy, and you should always update your spouse on whatever attempts the guy or the girl is making to get you. Don't wait. And jangan nak syok sendiri and rasa thrilled macam beruk when somebody shows interests in you. Your love to your spouse mesti teguh. Dan yang lebih penting, Imaan kena teguh. You should share all these things with your spouse. MESTI. WAJIB.
Once your spouse is in the know about your pursuer, this will ensure that you stay anchored to the marriage. And trust me, your spouse who before that may take you for granted, will also start paying more attention to you because they then realize that they have a prized possession in you. They have a competition. And they don't want to lose, do they?
In sum -
(1) Jangan layan lebih-lebih mereka-mereka yang menggedik dan menggatal nak tackle you.
(2) Make it clear to them and SHOW them that you're VERY married. Flaunt your spouse in front of them.
(3) Make sure you tell your spouse about the third party who's trying to get you.
(4) UPDATE your spouse regularly on the pursuer's pursuits on you.
(5) Better still, introduce your spouse to the pursuer.
(6) And if your spouse is the one who's being pursued, make a point to get your spouse to bring you to see his/her pursuer. Sit down with him/her, and tell him/her straight to his/her face not to waste his/her time on your spouse.
I think this is VERY important because the pursuer normally would think that the spouse of his/her desired catch does not know about the whole thing and that's why they all makin daring to try whatever it may take to get that person. But, if he/she knows the spouse tahu about what he or she is trying to do, this may menyedarkan diri dia that it's a futile effort to carry on. Lu pikir la sendiri...
(7) DON'T be the third party.
(8) DON'T encourage the third party.
BUT, of course all of this will only work if BOTH husband and wife are loyal, sincere and open with each other from the start. It's important that you tell your spouse straight away when a third party is trying to tackle you. VERY IMPORTANT.
AND HEY, EVEN IF THE OTHER PARTY WANTS TO BE JUST CASUAL FRIENDS, YOU HAVE TO TELL YOUR OTHER HALF. VERY IMPORTANT, TOO!
You'll never know where this "casual friendship" may end up, kan? Tak kira bila and siapa, if a member of the opposite sex nak kawan dengan kita, even if they are sincere, you have to let your spouse know. Berdosa kalau tak bagitau. Kena mintak izin.
Again, all the above is also as peringatan for myself and Ayah, too. I pray and hope that all these dijauhkan. And I pray and hope that both Ayah and I will continue to be open with each other, insya Allah. Amin.
And last but, not least, I'm a strong believer of the notion, "What goes around, comes around".
If today kita menggedik and menggatal nak tackle laki or bini orang, one fine day, ada orang yang akan tackle laki and bini kita...Baru kita rasa...
If today kita menyakitkan and melukakan hati isteri atau suami kita by abandoning him or her to be with a new person, one fine day that new love will also do the same to us.
If today kita merampas hak orang, one fine day, hak kita juga akan dirampas.
If we hold on to that, insya Allah, we will not hurt others, and we will not be hurt by others. Amin.
Again, ini adalah untuk renungan bersama for all the husbands AND wives out there, ya...
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Hutang tag boleh dibayar...
Dear Naz, Dilla and Amy,
No, no, no... I have not forgotten :)
I know I owe you guys a tag. It has been long overdue - in fact since before my Bali Trip in June. So, today is hari membayar hutang...Better late than never, they say. So, this is my late payment. Hopefully you guys won't charge any interests. Hehehe! :)
But, of course, before I start, please do accept my sincere apologies for being so tardy in responding to the tags. I have no valid reasons, nor am I going to come up with excuses. So, let's just call this, a statement - Wa manyak sibuk maaaa... :) But, janji tetap janji...and I did promise that I would get down to doing it. And finally, today is the time to get down to doing it.
The tag actually comes with an Award - the Uber Amazing Blog Award. Thank you so much for thinking of me as one of the recipients, dearies. Terharu I...
The award comes with a set of rules:
First, I would have to state 5 interesting facts about the person who gave me this award:
So, I'll start with Naz :)
Those who follow her blog would agree with me if I say that -
1. Naz is one very cool mom to her gorgeous and lovely brood of three :)
2. And I think Fact #1 has a lot to do with her having a lovely Mom. I just love the way she writes about her Mom...and her writings also tell us that she's one super daughter, too :)
3. She writes from her heart, and what she writes never fail to bring laughter or smiles or tears, and sometimes all three of the above in one sitting to her readers.
4. She's VERY eloquent, and very witty, too :)
5. Even though we've never met, I know that she's a very warm person.
Dillazag's turn now :)
1. I knew Dilla through her blog, and we've met a couple of times (I think? :)) at our Srikandi functions. Yes - a fellow STFian, but, she's much, much, much younger than me. I think I already had Hanna when she just sat for her SPM kot? ;) (Aduh...terasa tua saya! Hehehe!)
2. She's one super mom! And this is especially evident when her poor darlings fall sick. She's like on the Super Bunny Energizer batteries 24/7 :) And Dilla, I read about Khaleeq. I hope it's nothing serious, and my do'a that he'll be up and about, being his normal healthy self soon, insya Allah. Amin.
3. Dilla's one stylo-lady. I love looking at her photos when she dresses up for functions, etc. Ada kelesssss ;)
4. And she's one workaholic, and a go-getter, too! (and please take this in a positive way, okay? ;)
5. I can see from her writings and comments that she's a very bubbly person :)
Amy pulak :) -
1. I also knew Amy from her blog on which she writes about her daily happenings and her loved ones. She comes across as a bubbly person, and at the same time, very soft-hearted.
2. She's a loving wife to Zul, a.k.a as her "B", and I have to tabik spring to both of them as the nature of Zul's work means that some nights he has to be away from home, and sometimes they barely get to see each other. But, I think that is one of the reasons why they are such a loving couple :) She's very manja with her "B", and I think that is so sweet :)
3. And Amy also has an amazing relationship with her parents. I smiled when I read about how her Mama and Abah were there, helping her with her new house and all. And I felt for her when she felt so sad to finally move out of her parents' to live in her new home. To Amy, it's okay, dear... They're just a tinkle away :)
4. I see Amy as a very baik-hati girl, and even though we've never met, I feel that she's someone who'll do anything for her friends.
5. And I think Amy ni suka ketawa. And I like that in a person :) And another thing, somehow I rasa Amy ni has a very good singing voice. Betul tak, Amy?
So, that was the first rule.
The second rule - each blogger must mention 10 facts about themselves or their hobbies before choosing the next recipients:
1. I've always been mistaken for a Kelantanese. I guess because my name starts with "Wan". However, the fact is - my arwah grandma from my Abah's side was an Anak Mami Tanjung, while my arwah grandfather asal Taiping (Larut/Bukit Gantang to be exact) and hailed from Acheh. I never got to meet them as both passed away when my Abah was just 12. While on my Mom's side, my arwah grandfather was a Mendailing, while my arwah grandma was from the Arab lineage. And just my luck, my siblings all have noses from the Tanjung and Arab lineages, while yours truly got the Mendailing and Acheh nose...Hehehe!
2. I had my first uban at the age of 11. And it wasn't just 1 or 2 strands, okay? They came in hundreds! And now, my boy Hilman is having his first hundreds of uban at the age of 9.
3. I had my first pimple at the age of 19, and I thought my world would end that day. Hehehe! And I bought my first facial regime set right after the first zit showed, and I've been loyal to that brand until now :)
4. I love buying shoes. And I love buying handbags to go with the shoes :)
5. I'm not into jewelleries. I mean, I don't really go out to choose and buy jewelleries for myself. The only jewelleries I have are my wedding hantaran, and the three cincins (merisik, bertunang and kahwin). I was given a bracelet by my MIL for my 31st birthday, and Ayah gave me a pendant for Hari Raya 5 years ago. Few times Ayah had wanted to get jewelleries for me, but, everytime I would say, "Thank you, but, it's okay. No." (Sungguh beruntung suamiku ini... Mana nak dapat bini yang akan tolak bling-bling, kan?! Hahaha!)
6. I never cooked until I was 18 (not including my cooking lessons in SRT that is). I was never allowed to go into the kitchen every time I went back home for the school holidays. Reason being, I have two older sisters and the kitchen was just not big enough for the three of us (four if we were to include our Mom). Hehehe... However, thrown at the deep end when I did my A-Levels in Cardiff, and sharing a house with my 2 seniors, we had to take turns to cook dinner. So, that meant we had to cook every 3 days. Pandai pun sebenarnya... Hehehe!
7. I rarely wear Baju Kurung to work. The only time I do would be when there's a function at the Faculty or at the Uni level. My normal choice would be pants/long-skirts with matching tops and tudung (and of course - shoes and handbags ;)) The only times I wear Baju Kurung would be during Hari Raya, and of course during khenduri khendara. (So, Naz...I'm not a Wanita Melayu Terakhir material, okay? ;))
8. Being in an all-girls boarding school back in 1981-85, whenever there were dance and drama competitions, I would always be dancing/acting the parts meant for boys/guys. (So, again Naz - WMT I'm not...Hahaha!)
9. My favourite food would be everything Masakan Kampung. Unfortunately, I don't get to cook them at home as Ayah and the kids are so not into it! So, I'll make sure that my lunch at work would be a feast of just that - Masakan Kampung. Amongst my favourites include Sembilang Balado, Kemahang Masak Pindang, Gulai Nangka, Chili Padi Rebung, Patin Masak Tempoyak, Masak Lemak Chili Padi Pucuk Ubi, Sambal Tempoyak, Ulam Tempoyak, Kerabu Taugeh+Kerang. Need I say more?!
10. And Wanita Melayu Terakhir I'm not again, Naz, because I'm quite a rocker at heart. I just so love Bon Jovi and Def Leppard, and I'm now into Green Day, My Chemical Romance and All American Rejects. And Black Eyed Peas. Shoot me.
So there... 10 facts about me. Done :)
For the third rule, I was supposed to choose 10 recipients and describe them. But, memandangkan this Award and tag has been around for quite some time, and almost everybody has deservedly received it from other fellow bloggers, I guess this Award stops here lah ya? So sorry...
For the fourth rule - I have to inform those whom I have given the award to, but in this case - tak ada. So, I'm going to inform Naz, Dilla and Amy that I've done the tag coz' I'm sure they have probably forgotten about it! This I will do after this.
And finally, for the fifth rule - I'm supposed to paste the Award to my sidebar. Hmmmmm...Nanti when I have figured it out how to do it, you'll get to see lah the award kat tepi tu, okay? ;) If the Award is not there, itu maknanya I still tengah terkial-kial nak figure out how to do it lah tu...
Cheers, you all.
Have a good week ahead! :)
No, no, no... I have not forgotten :)
I know I owe you guys a tag. It has been long overdue - in fact since before my Bali Trip in June. So, today is hari membayar hutang...Better late than never, they say. So, this is my late payment. Hopefully you guys won't charge any interests. Hehehe! :)
But, of course, before I start, please do accept my sincere apologies for being so tardy in responding to the tags. I have no valid reasons, nor am I going to come up with excuses. So, let's just call this, a statement - Wa manyak sibuk maaaa... :) But, janji tetap janji...and I did promise that I would get down to doing it. And finally, today is the time to get down to doing it.
The tag actually comes with an Award - the Uber Amazing Blog Award. Thank you so much for thinking of me as one of the recipients, dearies. Terharu I...
The award comes with a set of rules:
First, I would have to state 5 interesting facts about the person who gave me this award:
So, I'll start with Naz :)
Those who follow her blog would agree with me if I say that -
1. Naz is one very cool mom to her gorgeous and lovely brood of three :)
2. And I think Fact #1 has a lot to do with her having a lovely Mom. I just love the way she writes about her Mom...and her writings also tell us that she's one super daughter, too :)
3. She writes from her heart, and what she writes never fail to bring laughter or smiles or tears, and sometimes all three of the above in one sitting to her readers.
4. She's VERY eloquent, and very witty, too :)
5. Even though we've never met, I know that she's a very warm person.
Dillazag's turn now :)
1. I knew Dilla through her blog, and we've met a couple of times (I think? :)) at our Srikandi functions. Yes - a fellow STFian, but, she's much, much, much younger than me. I think I already had Hanna when she just sat for her SPM kot? ;) (Aduh...terasa tua saya! Hehehe!)
2. She's one super mom! And this is especially evident when her poor darlings fall sick. She's like on the Super Bunny Energizer batteries 24/7 :) And Dilla, I read about Khaleeq. I hope it's nothing serious, and my do'a that he'll be up and about, being his normal healthy self soon, insya Allah. Amin.
3. Dilla's one stylo-lady. I love looking at her photos when she dresses up for functions, etc. Ada kelesssss ;)
4. And she's one workaholic, and a go-getter, too! (and please take this in a positive way, okay? ;)
5. I can see from her writings and comments that she's a very bubbly person :)
Amy pulak :) -
1. I also knew Amy from her blog on which she writes about her daily happenings and her loved ones. She comes across as a bubbly person, and at the same time, very soft-hearted.
2. She's a loving wife to Zul, a.k.a as her "B", and I have to tabik spring to both of them as the nature of Zul's work means that some nights he has to be away from home, and sometimes they barely get to see each other. But, I think that is one of the reasons why they are such a loving couple :) She's very manja with her "B", and I think that is so sweet :)
3. And Amy also has an amazing relationship with her parents. I smiled when I read about how her Mama and Abah were there, helping her with her new house and all. And I felt for her when she felt so sad to finally move out of her parents' to live in her new home. To Amy, it's okay, dear... They're just a tinkle away :)
4. I see Amy as a very baik-hati girl, and even though we've never met, I feel that she's someone who'll do anything for her friends.
5. And I think Amy ni suka ketawa. And I like that in a person :) And another thing, somehow I rasa Amy ni has a very good singing voice. Betul tak, Amy?
So, that was the first rule.
The second rule - each blogger must mention 10 facts about themselves or their hobbies before choosing the next recipients:
1. I've always been mistaken for a Kelantanese. I guess because my name starts with "Wan". However, the fact is - my arwah grandma from my Abah's side was an Anak Mami Tanjung, while my arwah grandfather asal Taiping (Larut/Bukit Gantang to be exact) and hailed from Acheh. I never got to meet them as both passed away when my Abah was just 12. While on my Mom's side, my arwah grandfather was a Mendailing, while my arwah grandma was from the Arab lineage. And just my luck, my siblings all have noses from the Tanjung and Arab lineages, while yours truly got the Mendailing and Acheh nose...Hehehe!
2. I had my first uban at the age of 11. And it wasn't just 1 or 2 strands, okay? They came in hundreds! And now, my boy Hilman is having his first hundreds of uban at the age of 9.
3. I had my first pimple at the age of 19, and I thought my world would end that day. Hehehe! And I bought my first facial regime set right after the first zit showed, and I've been loyal to that brand until now :)
4. I love buying shoes. And I love buying handbags to go with the shoes :)
5. I'm not into jewelleries. I mean, I don't really go out to choose and buy jewelleries for myself. The only jewelleries I have are my wedding hantaran, and the three cincins (merisik, bertunang and kahwin). I was given a bracelet by my MIL for my 31st birthday, and Ayah gave me a pendant for Hari Raya 5 years ago. Few times Ayah had wanted to get jewelleries for me, but, everytime I would say, "Thank you, but, it's okay. No." (Sungguh beruntung suamiku ini... Mana nak dapat bini yang akan tolak bling-bling, kan?! Hahaha!)
6. I never cooked until I was 18 (not including my cooking lessons in SRT that is). I was never allowed to go into the kitchen every time I went back home for the school holidays. Reason being, I have two older sisters and the kitchen was just not big enough for the three of us (four if we were to include our Mom). Hehehe... However, thrown at the deep end when I did my A-Levels in Cardiff, and sharing a house with my 2 seniors, we had to take turns to cook dinner. So, that meant we had to cook every 3 days. Pandai pun sebenarnya... Hehehe!
7. I rarely wear Baju Kurung to work. The only time I do would be when there's a function at the Faculty or at the Uni level. My normal choice would be pants/long-skirts with matching tops and tudung (and of course - shoes and handbags ;)) The only times I wear Baju Kurung would be during Hari Raya, and of course during khenduri khendara. (So, Naz...I'm not a Wanita Melayu Terakhir material, okay? ;))
8. Being in an all-girls boarding school back in 1981-85, whenever there were dance and drama competitions, I would always be dancing/acting the parts meant for boys/guys. (So, again Naz - WMT I'm not...Hahaha!)
9. My favourite food would be everything Masakan Kampung. Unfortunately, I don't get to cook them at home as Ayah and the kids are so not into it! So, I'll make sure that my lunch at work would be a feast of just that - Masakan Kampung. Amongst my favourites include Sembilang Balado, Kemahang Masak Pindang, Gulai Nangka, Chili Padi Rebung, Patin Masak Tempoyak, Masak Lemak Chili Padi Pucuk Ubi, Sambal Tempoyak, Ulam Tempoyak, Kerabu Taugeh+Kerang. Need I say more?!
10. And Wanita Melayu Terakhir I'm not again, Naz, because I'm quite a rocker at heart. I just so love Bon Jovi and Def Leppard, and I'm now into Green Day, My Chemical Romance and All American Rejects. And Black Eyed Peas. Shoot me.
So there... 10 facts about me. Done :)
For the third rule, I was supposed to choose 10 recipients and describe them. But, memandangkan this Award and tag has been around for quite some time, and almost everybody has deservedly received it from other fellow bloggers, I guess this Award stops here lah ya? So sorry...
For the fourth rule - I have to inform those whom I have given the award to, but in this case - tak ada. So, I'm going to inform Naz, Dilla and Amy that I've done the tag coz' I'm sure they have probably forgotten about it! This I will do after this.
And finally, for the fifth rule - I'm supposed to paste the Award to my sidebar. Hmmmmm...Nanti when I have figured it out how to do it, you'll get to see lah the award kat tepi tu, okay? ;) If the Award is not there, itu maknanya I still tengah terkial-kial nak figure out how to do it lah tu...
Cheers, you all.
Have a good week ahead! :)
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Jalan TAR Escapade...
Today was our "Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman Day". One of the TWO days in a year that we go to that area. We normally would avoid going there UNLESS it is absolutely necessary. The absolutely necessary days would be, first - the day we have to SEND the kain to buat Baju Melayu for Ayah and Hilman to Om*r Ali in Wisma Yakin, and second - the day we have to COLLECT the Baju Melayu :)
The girls decided not to follow us this time, so it was only Ayah, Hilman and myself. Normally, we would just park the car at Taman Jaya and take the LRT to Masjid Jamek. But, with the H1N1 situation getting worse, we decided to avoid public transport, and took my Kembara instead. My cute car "is easier to park", Ayah said. You all know lah how parking and traffic in that area can be - sheer madness, kan? Anyway, we decided to park at SOGO today. Itu pun illegal after going round and round for ages looking for a parking spot.
Hilman and I wore our surgical masks throughout the day, and it was good to see that there were quite a number of shoppers doing the same, too. If only everybody would invest in surgical masks and start wearing them in public places. Who knows, this could be our little contribution in actually helping contain H1N1, kan? There were a few ladies who were selling surgical masks in front of SOGO, but, I didn't really notice how much they were selling them for. I just hope they have not hiked the price too much sampai put off people from buying and using them.
Anyway, back to the main plot (Hehehehe!) - if Ayah had his ways, he wouldn't want to buat his Baju Melayu for Raya at all. But, of course, I would always use Hilman as an excuse. My Little Man needs to have his Baju Melayu specially-tailored for him because he would not fit in the ready-made ones. The problem would always be his waist :) So, alang-alang buat Hilman's baju, might as well make Ayah's baju, too, right? Furthermore, this Big Ma'am insists that we have a theme for every Raya. The theme for this year is turquoise blue, and the last time I checked Ayah's wardrobe, nope, no turquoise Baju Melayu in there. So, no escape for Ayah this year ;)
Anyway, the turquoise theme is just for first day Raya. For the rest of the bajus, they are all charcha marba as Hanna and Hasya both have their own preferences, and their tastes are totally different from each other. I no longer can opt for kerja senang and make baju boria for them this year. So, shopping for the girls can sometimes make "my blood go upstairs". But, syukur alhamdulillah, the kain for us girls had been sent to the tailor last Sunday (finally!). Two each for Hanna and Hasya, and just one for me. Nasib baik jugak Kh*ti*ah still accepted tempahan last week.
We also managed to get a sampin for Hilman which would match both his Baju Melayu nicely today. He can no longer wear the ready made sampin for kids now. We also had to get him a new Songkok as the one we bought for him last year no longer fits him. He HAS definitely grown since last Raya :) He also insisted on getting 2 different sets of butang Baju Melayu according to the colours of his Baju Raya. Mengalahkan Normal Norell, you... ;) And alang-alang we were in Jalan TAR today, we decided to also go to Gulati's, and we ended up buying a kain each lagi for us girls (macam lah totally unexpected, kan?! Hahaha!)
We decided to have lunch at Coliseum. It was amazing to see the place. It was as if time stood still for them all these years. Same old waiters, same old captain, same old airconds, same unpainted walls, same tables and chairs. Ayah had his wajib Sizzling T-bone Steak, Hilman had his Sizzling Rib-eye Steak, while I had my usual Sizzling Lamb Chop. We also tapau-ed some Fried Chicken Wings for the girls. All so heavenly... Yummeh!
After lunch we slowly walked back to SOGO - kononnya nak terus get the car and balik lah kan? But, mana lah boleh kan when the SALES signs were everywhere, makcik oiii!!! Up to 70% discounts merata-rata. And we ended up buying a few Sa*il*e Ro* shirts for Ayah. Memang murah giler... Yang tak seronoknya, Ayah discovered that Size L2 is too big for him now, and his size is now L1! I think, for the past couple of years, Ayah has gone down 3 sizes! Ahaakkksss! I feel so tercabar and tergugat, okay?! Mana achiiiii!!! How come I'm still wearing the same size I've been wearing for the past 5 years?!! I definitely have to do something about my weight...Mesti! Mesti!
We left SOGO just before 5:00p.m, and reached home about 5:30p.m. I showed Hanna and Hasya the kain we bought for them, and both of them teramatlah sukanya their Mommy's choices for them. Ten STARS for Mommy! Yeay!!
I hope to send the kain to Kh*ti*ah tomorrow. Kena do'a banyak-banyak kiri-kanan-atas-bawah that she will still terima the kain. Amin. Insya Allah :)
The girls decided not to follow us this time, so it was only Ayah, Hilman and myself. Normally, we would just park the car at Taman Jaya and take the LRT to Masjid Jamek. But, with the H1N1 situation getting worse, we decided to avoid public transport, and took my Kembara instead. My cute car "is easier to park", Ayah said. You all know lah how parking and traffic in that area can be - sheer madness, kan? Anyway, we decided to park at SOGO today. Itu pun illegal after going round and round for ages looking for a parking spot.
Hilman and I wore our surgical masks throughout the day, and it was good to see that there were quite a number of shoppers doing the same, too. If only everybody would invest in surgical masks and start wearing them in public places. Who knows, this could be our little contribution in actually helping contain H1N1, kan? There were a few ladies who were selling surgical masks in front of SOGO, but, I didn't really notice how much they were selling them for. I just hope they have not hiked the price too much sampai put off people from buying and using them.
Anyway, back to the main plot (Hehehehe!) - if Ayah had his ways, he wouldn't want to buat his Baju Melayu for Raya at all. But, of course, I would always use Hilman as an excuse. My Little Man needs to have his Baju Melayu specially-tailored for him because he would not fit in the ready-made ones. The problem would always be his waist :) So, alang-alang buat Hilman's baju, might as well make Ayah's baju, too, right? Furthermore, this Big Ma'am insists that we have a theme for every Raya. The theme for this year is turquoise blue, and the last time I checked Ayah's wardrobe, nope, no turquoise Baju Melayu in there. So, no escape for Ayah this year ;)
Anyway, the turquoise theme is just for first day Raya. For the rest of the bajus, they are all charcha marba as Hanna and Hasya both have their own preferences, and their tastes are totally different from each other. I no longer can opt for kerja senang and make baju boria for them this year. So, shopping for the girls can sometimes make "my blood go upstairs". But, syukur alhamdulillah, the kain for us girls had been sent to the tailor last Sunday (finally!). Two each for Hanna and Hasya, and just one for me. Nasib baik jugak Kh*ti*ah still accepted tempahan last week.
We also managed to get a sampin for Hilman which would match both his Baju Melayu nicely today. He can no longer wear the ready made sampin for kids now. We also had to get him a new Songkok as the one we bought for him last year no longer fits him. He HAS definitely grown since last Raya :) He also insisted on getting 2 different sets of butang Baju Melayu according to the colours of his Baju Raya. Mengalahkan Normal Norell, you... ;) And alang-alang we were in Jalan TAR today, we decided to also go to Gulati's, and we ended up buying a kain each lagi for us girls (macam lah totally unexpected, kan?! Hahaha!)
We decided to have lunch at Coliseum. It was amazing to see the place. It was as if time stood still for them all these years. Same old waiters, same old captain, same old airconds, same unpainted walls, same tables and chairs. Ayah had his wajib Sizzling T-bone Steak, Hilman had his Sizzling Rib-eye Steak, while I had my usual Sizzling Lamb Chop. We also tapau-ed some Fried Chicken Wings for the girls. All so heavenly... Yummeh!
After lunch we slowly walked back to SOGO - kononnya nak terus get the car and balik lah kan? But, mana lah boleh kan when the SALES signs were everywhere, makcik oiii!!! Up to 70% discounts merata-rata. And we ended up buying a few Sa*il*e Ro* shirts for Ayah. Memang murah giler... Yang tak seronoknya, Ayah discovered that Size L2 is too big for him now, and his size is now L1! I think, for the past couple of years, Ayah has gone down 3 sizes! Ahaakkksss! I feel so tercabar and tergugat, okay?! Mana achiiiii!!! How come I'm still wearing the same size I've been wearing for the past 5 years?!! I definitely have to do something about my weight...Mesti! Mesti!
We left SOGO just before 5:00p.m, and reached home about 5:30p.m. I showed Hanna and Hasya the kain we bought for them, and both of them teramatlah sukanya their Mommy's choices for them. Ten STARS for Mommy! Yeay!!
I hope to send the kain to Kh*ti*ah tomorrow. Kena do'a banyak-banyak kiri-kanan-atas-bawah that she will still terima the kain. Amin. Insya Allah :)
Thursday, July 30, 2009
More month at the end of the money?
I was just passing the time doing various quizzes on FB tonight, and one of them was on "What does your facial shape tell about you". And the result was :
+ Always work hard.
+ Handles financial problem smartly.
+ Has an outstanding will to succeed.
+ Has a clear plan for life.
+ Can be quite ego at times.
(Never mind the grammar lah ye? :))
As with most of the quizzes on FB, I had to ponder on whether any of the above actually rang true about me, and I have to say some of them are dead right, while some are fitnah semata-mata (but, I'm not going to say here which ones are which, okay?! Hehehe!) EXCEPT that in a way I somewhat agree with #2 (Well, at least NOT until about 5 years ago, that is). And I wouldn't say I'm 'smart' when it comes to handling financial problems or matters. Maybe 'prudent' would be a better way to describe me. So, bear with me when I share something with you all here, okay?
I'm also moved to share this after reading Meen's (JazzmaTazz :))post on her blog about how now she spends less on shopping as she becomes more contented with life :) And how all the unnecessary spending has dwindled down over the last couple of years. And I agree with her. When you're contented with what you have (doesn't have to be a material thing), you tend to shop less. And to add to that, I believe that once we shop less, we will be able to start saving systematically. And the result - we'll be more contented and happier with basically everything and everybody around us :)
I have to confess - before 2004, Ayah and I were not thrifty with our money at all. We never consciously saved our dosh, and we never kept track of where our money went. Whenever our salary came in, we would just withdraw whatever amount we wanted, signed our cheques freely, and we would just charge most of our shoppings to our credit cards. And normally, due to our free flow spending (of our chiput pay), most of the times we only managed to pay the minimum amount for the credit cards. And more often than not, there was "more-month-at-the-end-of-the-money" (rather than "more money-at-the-end-of-the-month" for us!) Ye lah kan...both of us kerja gomen, kan? So, you all can imagine how much interests we had to pay to the credit card companies on the never-ending outstanding amount! Scandalous, I tell you...
But, everything changed when we were in the UK in 2003-04, when we had to live on my meagre scholarship and on Ayah's pay as a fellow at a hospital in Middlesborough. There were six of us - we all anak beranak plus our helper, Cek Pi. We still received our basic pay in Malaysia at that time, but we decided not to touch our pay if we could help it.
I can't remember what actually happened which made us decide to start saving systematically, but, I think one of the reasons was that we realized that we had an opportunity to start saving seriously as we had a few sources of income then. And we set a target to settle all our outstanding credit card bills by the end of 2004. It was then, the "Demam Bajet" hit me :)
I actually went out to get a hardcover notebook one day, and started laying out the structure of our saving plans, and roughly decided to identify our two sources of income which we would have to live on while in the UK - my scholarship, and Ayah's fellowship pay.
And we started dividing allocations for our routine and recurring expenses between these two sources. I can't really remember the actual items, but roughly, for my own allowances and transportation costs, the rent, my study materials, and the utility bills - these would be paid with my monthly scholarship. And Ayah's pay would go towards payment of his petrol and toll money, his car maintenance, the groceries, clothings, anything that the children may need, for our travels, shopping, allowances for Cek Pi, and of course towards paying for the credit cards.
Whatever was left of my scholarship (which more often than not was nothing to shout about, as it would be gone even before I could shout), I would keep for myself, and normally that would cover all those petty miscellaneous expenses and shopping for me. And whatever left of Ayah's pay, we would transfer the money to our account in Malaysia.
So, throughout our stay in the UK, I kept a budget book, which I worked on at the end of each month, and also in the middle of the month (to modify our budget to accommodate any ad hoc expenses). And this was how I did it -
(1) I would look at how much money there was in each of our income sources for the month - my allowance/scholarship and Ayah's pay.
(2) Work on income source #1, and see how much balance would be left after all the compulsory expenses had been taken into account.
(3) Repeat Step 2 for income source #2.
(4) Set aside some amount for emergencies.
(5) The rest, we transferred to our Malaysian account and also to our UK Savings Account.
(6) We tried our best to stick to the budget.
(7) Failing #6, Step #4 would save us :)
Once we had got into the rhythm of saving, no matter how chiput the balance may be, we would save it. It just became a habit. And until now, I still keep a budget book with me all the time. The current one started with our December 2005 budget. So, you all can imagine how very the lunyai the book is now!
But, the division of expenses has changed somewhat since our UK days.
Now, MY pay goes to MY account.
AYAH's pay goes to OUR joint account. ;)
MY pay would go towards paying for -
* Our monthly grocery spendings (fixed)
* My own petrol/toll/meals allowances (fixed)
* The household utility bills (Tenaga, Syabas, Astro, TM, Maxis) - depends on usage
* My Kembara Car Loan (fixed)
* Standing Instruction for our Unit Trusts (fixed)
* The Home Guard Service (fixed)
* The Kids Piano Fees (fixed)
* The Kids School Allowances (fixed)
* The monthly contributions to my Abah and Mommy (minimum amount fixed, and insya Allah kalau rezqi lebih, will tambah accordingly :))
And whatever balance from there, depending on my mood - I would either put them in the savings account, OR spend it like there's no tomorrow! Hahaha! And let me tell you here - more often than not, it would be the latter ;)
As for AYAH'S pay, it goes towards the following -
* SD House Loan (fixed)
* BJ House Loan (fixed)
* His Naza Car Loan (fixed)
* His Accord Car Loan (fixed)
* His own petrol/toll/meals allowances (Yup! Fixed, too! Kesian kan? I ration his food!)
* Family outings (fixed)
* Shopping money (flexible :))
* All the credit cards (The amount depends on whether the wife goes mental during The Sales or not...)
* Monthly premiums for all the insurance policies we took up.
* Kids fees for Mengaji, Traditional Dance, Chess, Swimming, Guitar, Tuitions (fixed)
* Spending for various contingency/emergencies (fixed)
And whatever balance left, we would transfer to our Savings on the day our monthly pay is credited into our accounts. This is so that our fresh pay is not 'mixed' with the balance :) And if ada rezqi lebih, we will top up the kids' savings, insya Allah.
So, as you can see - yang had besaq-besaq punya belanja semua cheq pass kat dia.... Cerdik naaa?! :)
And this has been our practice for the last 5 years. And I still do it twice a month - the original budget at the end of the month, and the review in the middle of the month - to take into account any unforeseen expenses which may crop up for that particular month, and modify the budget accordingly.
And we make a point to pay our credit card bills in full every month as we don't want to fork out the unnecessary extras to pay for the interests! To do that, we REALLY have to discipline ourselves to spend within our means.
And syukur alhamdulillah, nowadays we see more-money-at-the-end-of-the-month, than more-month-at-the-end-of-the-money, insya Allah. Tak banyak, sikit pun - it is still our savings :)
Please don't get me wrong. My niat is just to share our system of saving money however little it may be, with you all, which works for us, and if you guys would want to experiment with it to see if the system may work for you all, too (IF you still have not found an effective system for you). And also, if you guys may also want to share your system here with us here :)
Personally, I feel that the things that we should always bear in mind are :
* We should always be looking out for any opportunities which come our way which may help us save more.
* We should always spend ONLY within our means.
* Do not mix the previous month's salary with the current one - ALWAYS save whatever balance you have IMMEDIATELY.
* We can splurge every now and then (but only when you feel that with whatever savings you've done, you deserve to splurge :))
* Jangan terlampau save duit sampai jadi kedekut, and tak spend on yourselves, your loved ones, and your friends, and of course bersedekah.
AND Yang paling penting for us para isteri - bila kita belanjakan duit gaji kita untuk perbelanjaan yang seharusnya ditanggung oleh suami kita, kita MESTI IKHLAS, SEIKHLAS-IKHLASNYA... Jangan ada rasa resentment walau sedikit pun. Insya Allah, rezqi kita sekeluarga murah... :)
Anyway, I thought I'd share with you how my Budget Book looks like here -
Nampak macam belacan, kan? ;)
Tapi belacan yang banyak berjasa ni... Hehehe!
+ Always work hard.
+ Handles financial problem smartly.
+ Has an outstanding will to succeed.
+ Has a clear plan for life.
+ Can be quite ego at times.
(Never mind the grammar lah ye? :))
As with most of the quizzes on FB, I had to ponder on whether any of the above actually rang true about me, and I have to say some of them are dead right, while some are fitnah semata-mata (but, I'm not going to say here which ones are which, okay?! Hehehe!) EXCEPT that in a way I somewhat agree with #2 (Well, at least NOT until about 5 years ago, that is). And I wouldn't say I'm 'smart' when it comes to handling financial problems or matters. Maybe 'prudent' would be a better way to describe me. So, bear with me when I share something with you all here, okay?
I'm also moved to share this after reading Meen's (JazzmaTazz :))post on her blog about how now she spends less on shopping as she becomes more contented with life :) And how all the unnecessary spending has dwindled down over the last couple of years. And I agree with her. When you're contented with what you have (doesn't have to be a material thing), you tend to shop less. And to add to that, I believe that once we shop less, we will be able to start saving systematically. And the result - we'll be more contented and happier with basically everything and everybody around us :)
I have to confess - before 2004, Ayah and I were not thrifty with our money at all. We never consciously saved our dosh, and we never kept track of where our money went. Whenever our salary came in, we would just withdraw whatever amount we wanted, signed our cheques freely, and we would just charge most of our shoppings to our credit cards. And normally, due to our free flow spending (of our chiput pay), most of the times we only managed to pay the minimum amount for the credit cards. And more often than not, there was "more-month-at-the-end-of-the-money" (rather than "more money-at-the-end-of-the-month" for us!) Ye lah kan...both of us kerja gomen, kan? So, you all can imagine how much interests we had to pay to the credit card companies on the never-ending outstanding amount! Scandalous, I tell you...
But, everything changed when we were in the UK in 2003-04, when we had to live on my meagre scholarship and on Ayah's pay as a fellow at a hospital in Middlesborough. There were six of us - we all anak beranak plus our helper, Cek Pi. We still received our basic pay in Malaysia at that time, but we decided not to touch our pay if we could help it.
I can't remember what actually happened which made us decide to start saving systematically, but, I think one of the reasons was that we realized that we had an opportunity to start saving seriously as we had a few sources of income then. And we set a target to settle all our outstanding credit card bills by the end of 2004. It was then, the "Demam Bajet" hit me :)
I actually went out to get a hardcover notebook one day, and started laying out the structure of our saving plans, and roughly decided to identify our two sources of income which we would have to live on while in the UK - my scholarship, and Ayah's fellowship pay.
And we started dividing allocations for our routine and recurring expenses between these two sources. I can't really remember the actual items, but roughly, for my own allowances and transportation costs, the rent, my study materials, and the utility bills - these would be paid with my monthly scholarship. And Ayah's pay would go towards payment of his petrol and toll money, his car maintenance, the groceries, clothings, anything that the children may need, for our travels, shopping, allowances for Cek Pi, and of course towards paying for the credit cards.
Whatever was left of my scholarship (which more often than not was nothing to shout about, as it would be gone even before I could shout), I would keep for myself, and normally that would cover all those petty miscellaneous expenses and shopping for me. And whatever left of Ayah's pay, we would transfer the money to our account in Malaysia.
So, throughout our stay in the UK, I kept a budget book, which I worked on at the end of each month, and also in the middle of the month (to modify our budget to accommodate any ad hoc expenses). And this was how I did it -
(1) I would look at how much money there was in each of our income sources for the month - my allowance/scholarship and Ayah's pay.
(2) Work on income source #1, and see how much balance would be left after all the compulsory expenses had been taken into account.
(3) Repeat Step 2 for income source #2.
(4) Set aside some amount for emergencies.
(5) The rest, we transferred to our Malaysian account and also to our UK Savings Account.
(6) We tried our best to stick to the budget.
(7) Failing #6, Step #4 would save us :)
Once we had got into the rhythm of saving, no matter how chiput the balance may be, we would save it. It just became a habit. And until now, I still keep a budget book with me all the time. The current one started with our December 2005 budget. So, you all can imagine how very the lunyai the book is now!
But, the division of expenses has changed somewhat since our UK days.
Now, MY pay goes to MY account.
AYAH's pay goes to OUR joint account. ;)
MY pay would go towards paying for -
* Our monthly grocery spendings (fixed)
* My own petrol/toll/meals allowances (fixed)
* The household utility bills (Tenaga, Syabas, Astro, TM, Maxis) - depends on usage
* My Kembara Car Loan (fixed)
* Standing Instruction for our Unit Trusts (fixed)
* The Home Guard Service (fixed)
* The Kids Piano Fees (fixed)
* The Kids School Allowances (fixed)
* The monthly contributions to my Abah and Mommy (minimum amount fixed, and insya Allah kalau rezqi lebih, will tambah accordingly :))
And whatever balance from there, depending on my mood - I would either put them in the savings account, OR spend it like there's no tomorrow! Hahaha! And let me tell you here - more often than not, it would be the latter ;)
As for AYAH'S pay, it goes towards the following -
* SD House Loan (fixed)
* BJ House Loan (fixed)
* His Naza Car Loan (fixed)
* His Accord Car Loan (fixed)
* His own petrol/toll/meals allowances (Yup! Fixed, too! Kesian kan? I ration his food!)
* Family outings (fixed)
* Shopping money (flexible :))
* All the credit cards (The amount depends on whether the wife goes mental during The Sales or not...)
* Monthly premiums for all the insurance policies we took up.
* Kids fees for Mengaji, Traditional Dance, Chess, Swimming, Guitar, Tuitions (fixed)
* Spending for various contingency/emergencies (fixed)
And whatever balance left, we would transfer to our Savings on the day our monthly pay is credited into our accounts. This is so that our fresh pay is not 'mixed' with the balance :) And if ada rezqi lebih, we will top up the kids' savings, insya Allah.
So, as you can see - yang had besaq-besaq punya belanja semua cheq pass kat dia.... Cerdik naaa?! :)
And this has been our practice for the last 5 years. And I still do it twice a month - the original budget at the end of the month, and the review in the middle of the month - to take into account any unforeseen expenses which may crop up for that particular month, and modify the budget accordingly.
And we make a point to pay our credit card bills in full every month as we don't want to fork out the unnecessary extras to pay for the interests! To do that, we REALLY have to discipline ourselves to spend within our means.
And syukur alhamdulillah, nowadays we see more-money-at-the-end-of-the-month, than more-month-at-the-end-of-the-money, insya Allah. Tak banyak, sikit pun - it is still our savings :)
Please don't get me wrong. My niat is just to share our system of saving money however little it may be, with you all, which works for us, and if you guys would want to experiment with it to see if the system may work for you all, too (IF you still have not found an effective system for you). And also, if you guys may also want to share your system here with us here :)
Personally, I feel that the things that we should always bear in mind are :
* We should always be looking out for any opportunities which come our way which may help us save more.
* We should always spend ONLY within our means.
* Do not mix the previous month's salary with the current one - ALWAYS save whatever balance you have IMMEDIATELY.
* We can splurge every now and then (but only when you feel that with whatever savings you've done, you deserve to splurge :))
* Jangan terlampau save duit sampai jadi kedekut, and tak spend on yourselves, your loved ones, and your friends, and of course bersedekah.
AND Yang paling penting for us para isteri - bila kita belanjakan duit gaji kita untuk perbelanjaan yang seharusnya ditanggung oleh suami kita, kita MESTI IKHLAS, SEIKHLAS-IKHLASNYA... Jangan ada rasa resentment walau sedikit pun. Insya Allah, rezqi kita sekeluarga murah... :)
Anyway, I thought I'd share with you how my Budget Book looks like here -
Nampak macam belacan, kan? ;)
Tapi belacan yang banyak berjasa ni... Hehehe!
Friday, July 24, 2009
Is it hard being a Mom...?
This has been the longest hiatus this blog has gone into, and I guess a few friends were beginning to get worried by my long silence.
Ibu left a comment on my FB - "What happened to you? Sonyap jo..."
Bella SMSd me yesterday - "...Lama tak nampak u update. I hope all is well..."
And even Ayah has been asking me a few times - "You've not updated your blog?"
Thank you for your concerns, my dear friends and hubby :)
I am fine, syukur alhamdulillah. Just that life (if it wasn't already hectic before) had been MORE hectic in the last few weeks.
For a start, the Uni's new Academic Year started early this month, and we had been busy briefing new students as to what the Department has to offer, etc. Instead of the usual congregation of all the new students at the Faculty's biggest Lecture Hall where all the departments take turns to brief the newbies, this year, due to the H1N1 threat, the freshies were not allowed to go to the main campus, and instead we had to go to all the residential colleges for the briefings. So, you can just imagine giving the same presentation over and over again, but to different sets of students? Aiyoooo...mentally exhausting, I tell you. Even though I was not doing the talk myself, going to the residential colleges, and listening to all the briefings itself was quite draining.
And of course, when class started, yours truly had to organize the tutorial groups, etc. And it didn't help when you've come up with the list of students for each group, and allocated the Tutorial topics for each of them, but, every couple of days, a few would come to you and inform that they either just joined the group, or that they had just dropped the course, and you would have to RE-ORGANIZE and RE-ALLOCATE the Topics all over again. And that went on until end of last week. Thank God, I only have a total of 76 students this Semester...
And the kids were ever so busy with all the activities Tok Nenek under the sun, kan? The last 4-5 weekends had not been true weekends for us because of that. I found myself driving the kids here and there for all their extra lessons and social activities throughout most of the Saturdays and Sundays.
And it didn't help when both Hasya and Hilman fell sick at the end of last week.
It started off with Hilman having a bad cough on Thursday, and I had to bring him to see Dr. Mu*a on Friday. He had to go on the nebulizer, and was prescibed with Tussidex, Prednisolone and of course his 4-hourly Ventolin puffs. Thank God, he was not having any temperature.
Come Sunday morning, his cough was not getting better, and Hasya was starting to have flu-like symptoms, and by Sunday evening her temperature went up to 38.4, and she had started coughing, too!
Monday morning, I had to bring both the kids to see Dr. Mu*a again. Hilman had to go on the nebulizer again, and Hasya was asked to take the 4-hourly Ventolin puffs, too, together with Tussidex cough syrup. She was also given a course of antibiotics (Augmentin), but ONLY to be taken if her fever didn't subside by the third day.
Monday night - her temperature was hovering above 38.4 throughout the night, and I was up almost half of the night, waking up every hour or so, checking on her, and spongeing her down. At one point, her temperature shot up to 39.7! We decided to just start her on the Augmentin and not wait for another 2 days.
I had classes until 6p.m on Tuesday, but, Hasya was keeping me in the loop on her temperature. She would call me every hour to give me an update of the thermometer reading. The Augmentin must have helped, as she recorded temperatures of between 37.3 to 37.6 through the day. BUT, Hilman's cough, on the other hand, was NOT getting better at all. In fact it was getting worse. His cough sounded so hollow and so coarse, and I could just feel how soar his throat was just by listening to his coughs!
Wednesday morning, Hasya's temperature went up to 38.1, and I decided to bring them to see Dr. Mu*a again. That was the third visit within 6 days. Those who are familiar with Dr. Mu*a's clinic would know that every visit would mean that half of your day would be gone. However, Dr. Mu*a, upon seeing us in his waiting room, immediately asked us to go to his room - no need to ikut nombor. He was quite happy with Hasya's progress - even though her temperature had not gone down to the normal level, she was getting better and was advised to just continue with whatever medications she was on.
However, after checking Hilman, he ordered for an X-Ray to be done on him, and lo and behold, it showed that Hilman had a lung infection and he was immediately put on a course of Klacid antibiotics.
Both kids were given MC until today.
So, you guys, the last one week had been quite a stressful time for me. What with the lack of sleep, my Florence Nightingale shifts, the running around, the start of my Lectures and Tutorial classes, and the rest of the unsettled stuff at the office. And it didn't help when I was getting the constant, "Are you going to work today, Mommy?!" or "What time are you coming back today, Mommy", or "Do you HAVE to go to the office today, Mommy?"!, either to my face or through the phone. And I was putting on my remote control mode from the office and kept on calling home to make sure the kids were getting their medications on time, and also to make sure that Dar was in fact giving them the RIGHT medication at the right time. And with them being sick and all, eating out or even tapau-ing food from outside would be a BIG No-No! So, that meant I had been doing the cooking myself for the last week or so, too.
It didn't help that we also had some problems with the piping of our nextdoor neighbour's aircond which led to quite a bad leakage in our Master bedroom and onto the plaster ceiling and wall of our living room. And Ayah had also been pretty busy at work in the last month or so, and have been coming back late most nights. But, being busy at the hospital is good for Ayah nowadays, so, I can't complain, can I?
Anyway, it must have shown on my face - the strain, because, while I was driving the kids home from the hospital that day, Hilman asked me what my schedule was after sending them home. Hasya was, by that time, already asleep on the backseat of the car. And I lined up my plans for the day, and said to him -
"First, I have to go back to the office as I have yet to clock in for the day, and I have to settle a few matters at work. Then, I'll be meeting Ayah for lunch. Then, I would be going back to the office to do some work. Then, I would be fetching Kak Long from school at 5:30p.m. Then, I would be sending Kak Long to Wan's house, where she would get ready for her piano lesson. Then, I would be sending Kak Long to her piano lesson, and I would wait for her to finish. (Hasya and Hilman were supposed to have their piano lessons at the same time, too, but this week they're excused) Then, I would be sending Qa*sa*a (his cousin) back to Wan's house (she also goes for piano lessons at the same place and time as the kids) And THEN only I would be making my way home to SD with Kak Long, and cook dinner for you and your sisters".
I said all that to him without a pause.
And after all that, Hilman looked at me and said,
"Is it hard being a Mom, Mommy?"
And suddenly I felt a lump in my throat, and my eyes were getting blurred by the tears welling up in them when all the built-up strain and stress seemed to be rushing in and hit the core of me in those few moments...
I was trying to compose myself, and after a few seconds, I said to him -
"Yes, It IS hard sometimes, Hilman, to be a Mom. But, you know what? I wouldn't change it for the world...NOT EVER."
And with that, all the stress and strain that I was feeling throughout the week, just evaporated away as I held his hand in mine throughout the rest of the journey back to SD...
Ibu left a comment on my FB - "What happened to you? Sonyap jo..."
Bella SMSd me yesterday - "...Lama tak nampak u update. I hope all is well..."
And even Ayah has been asking me a few times - "You've not updated your blog?"
Thank you for your concerns, my dear friends and hubby :)
I am fine, syukur alhamdulillah. Just that life (if it wasn't already hectic before) had been MORE hectic in the last few weeks.
For a start, the Uni's new Academic Year started early this month, and we had been busy briefing new students as to what the Department has to offer, etc. Instead of the usual congregation of all the new students at the Faculty's biggest Lecture Hall where all the departments take turns to brief the newbies, this year, due to the H1N1 threat, the freshies were not allowed to go to the main campus, and instead we had to go to all the residential colleges for the briefings. So, you can just imagine giving the same presentation over and over again, but to different sets of students? Aiyoooo...mentally exhausting, I tell you. Even though I was not doing the talk myself, going to the residential colleges, and listening to all the briefings itself was quite draining.
And of course, when class started, yours truly had to organize the tutorial groups, etc. And it didn't help when you've come up with the list of students for each group, and allocated the Tutorial topics for each of them, but, every couple of days, a few would come to you and inform that they either just joined the group, or that they had just dropped the course, and you would have to RE-ORGANIZE and RE-ALLOCATE the Topics all over again. And that went on until end of last week. Thank God, I only have a total of 76 students this Semester...
And the kids were ever so busy with all the activities Tok Nenek under the sun, kan? The last 4-5 weekends had not been true weekends for us because of that. I found myself driving the kids here and there for all their extra lessons and social activities throughout most of the Saturdays and Sundays.
And it didn't help when both Hasya and Hilman fell sick at the end of last week.
It started off with Hilman having a bad cough on Thursday, and I had to bring him to see Dr. Mu*a on Friday. He had to go on the nebulizer, and was prescibed with Tussidex, Prednisolone and of course his 4-hourly Ventolin puffs. Thank God, he was not having any temperature.
Come Sunday morning, his cough was not getting better, and Hasya was starting to have flu-like symptoms, and by Sunday evening her temperature went up to 38.4, and she had started coughing, too!
Monday morning, I had to bring both the kids to see Dr. Mu*a again. Hilman had to go on the nebulizer again, and Hasya was asked to take the 4-hourly Ventolin puffs, too, together with Tussidex cough syrup. She was also given a course of antibiotics (Augmentin), but ONLY to be taken if her fever didn't subside by the third day.
Monday night - her temperature was hovering above 38.4 throughout the night, and I was up almost half of the night, waking up every hour or so, checking on her, and spongeing her down. At one point, her temperature shot up to 39.7! We decided to just start her on the Augmentin and not wait for another 2 days.
I had classes until 6p.m on Tuesday, but, Hasya was keeping me in the loop on her temperature. She would call me every hour to give me an update of the thermometer reading. The Augmentin must have helped, as she recorded temperatures of between 37.3 to 37.6 through the day. BUT, Hilman's cough, on the other hand, was NOT getting better at all. In fact it was getting worse. His cough sounded so hollow and so coarse, and I could just feel how soar his throat was just by listening to his coughs!
Wednesday morning, Hasya's temperature went up to 38.1, and I decided to bring them to see Dr. Mu*a again. That was the third visit within 6 days. Those who are familiar with Dr. Mu*a's clinic would know that every visit would mean that half of your day would be gone. However, Dr. Mu*a, upon seeing us in his waiting room, immediately asked us to go to his room - no need to ikut nombor. He was quite happy with Hasya's progress - even though her temperature had not gone down to the normal level, she was getting better and was advised to just continue with whatever medications she was on.
However, after checking Hilman, he ordered for an X-Ray to be done on him, and lo and behold, it showed that Hilman had a lung infection and he was immediately put on a course of Klacid antibiotics.
Both kids were given MC until today.
So, you guys, the last one week had been quite a stressful time for me. What with the lack of sleep, my Florence Nightingale shifts, the running around, the start of my Lectures and Tutorial classes, and the rest of the unsettled stuff at the office. And it didn't help when I was getting the constant, "Are you going to work today, Mommy?!" or "What time are you coming back today, Mommy", or "Do you HAVE to go to the office today, Mommy?"!, either to my face or through the phone. And I was putting on my remote control mode from the office and kept on calling home to make sure the kids were getting their medications on time, and also to make sure that Dar was in fact giving them the RIGHT medication at the right time. And with them being sick and all, eating out or even tapau-ing food from outside would be a BIG No-No! So, that meant I had been doing the cooking myself for the last week or so, too.
It didn't help that we also had some problems with the piping of our nextdoor neighbour's aircond which led to quite a bad leakage in our Master bedroom and onto the plaster ceiling and wall of our living room. And Ayah had also been pretty busy at work in the last month or so, and have been coming back late most nights. But, being busy at the hospital is good for Ayah nowadays, so, I can't complain, can I?
Anyway, it must have shown on my face - the strain, because, while I was driving the kids home from the hospital that day, Hilman asked me what my schedule was after sending them home. Hasya was, by that time, already asleep on the backseat of the car. And I lined up my plans for the day, and said to him -
"First, I have to go back to the office as I have yet to clock in for the day, and I have to settle a few matters at work. Then, I'll be meeting Ayah for lunch. Then, I would be going back to the office to do some work. Then, I would be fetching Kak Long from school at 5:30p.m. Then, I would be sending Kak Long to Wan's house, where she would get ready for her piano lesson. Then, I would be sending Kak Long to her piano lesson, and I would wait for her to finish. (Hasya and Hilman were supposed to have their piano lessons at the same time, too, but this week they're excused) Then, I would be sending Qa*sa*a (his cousin) back to Wan's house (she also goes for piano lessons at the same place and time as the kids) And THEN only I would be making my way home to SD with Kak Long, and cook dinner for you and your sisters".
I said all that to him without a pause.
And after all that, Hilman looked at me and said,
"Is it hard being a Mom, Mommy?"
And suddenly I felt a lump in my throat, and my eyes were getting blurred by the tears welling up in them when all the built-up strain and stress seemed to be rushing in and hit the core of me in those few moments...
I was trying to compose myself, and after a few seconds, I said to him -
"Yes, It IS hard sometimes, Hilman, to be a Mom. But, you know what? I wouldn't change it for the world...NOT EVER."
And with that, all the stress and strain that I was feeling throughout the week, just evaporated away as I held his hand in mine throughout the rest of the journey back to SD...
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